Always
by Han'Gerrel
Summary: Short oneshot commission for atwellling of Tumblr. Young Peggy is the newest member of the Avengers initiative. Steve is quickly growing accustomed to the idea. AU, fluff without plot.


"I'm still not over it," he told her.

Peggy turned at the sound, surprised at having been interrupted, her penciled brows shooting upward as she clutched her outfit over her underdressed form. Steve hurriedly looked away at her startled reaction, holding up a hand to block her out, allowing her some level of decency, but Peggy quickly relaxed at the sight of him, allowing her outfit to drop back to her arms as she let out a short, almost fondly exasperated sigh. "You should have told me you were coming," she told him, turning back around to the full-length mirror to continue admiring her uniform. "It's not polite to sneak up on someone, you know. Especially someone in a state of undress."

"If I'd known you weren't dressed I wouldn't have come in," Steve answered, fairly, lifting his hand ever so slightly to peer underneath, allowing himself a fleeting glimpse of her curvy backside. He quickly moved it back again, clearing his throat gently, but then, realizing she was not making any attempt to shoo him away, he slowly allowed his hand to drop, sliding it into his pocket as he looked back up towards her, watching her turn one way and then the other, looking at her new outfit from all angles. "I did knock," he added, cheekily.

"I'm certain you did," Peggy answered, holding up one of the outfit's sleeves to see how it looked against her arm. Then, letting out a soft, satisfied sigh, she turned away from the full-length mirror, laying the outfit out on her bed before turning to face him again, propping her hands against her hips as she gave him a quick, encompassing once-over. "What was it you came to talk about?" she asked. "You said something when you first came in. I assume it was something important, before you got…" She paused, thoughtful, looking for the right word, before shifting her hips and giving a playful shrug of one shoulder. "Distracted," she finished, teasingly.

Steve laughed quietly at the allegation, turning his blue gaze down towards the floor and leaning one broad shoulder sheepishly against the door frame. "Any man would be distracted," he told her, matter-of-factly. "I'm just lucky I get to be that man."

"Well you're not just any man, are you?" Peggy countered, the same puckish smirk returning to her pretty face. "You're Captain America."

Steve grinned, crossing his arms over his chest as he raised one scrupulous brow. "And what does that make you?" he asked, nodding to the uniform now laid out flat on her bed. Peggy paused at the question, her rouge lips twisting together in thought as she turned her attention back towards the uniform, mulling over her options for a moment.

"You know, I'm not really sure," she finally admitted. "I figure Agent Carter works as well as anything for the time being. Why interfere with a good thing?"

"If it's not broke, don't fix it," Steve agreed, grinning down at the uniform before returning his attention to Peggy, adoringly. Peggy turned at the colloquialism, looking up at him with indulgent brown eyes, before reaching forward with one finger to tap him gently on the nose.

"If it's not _broken_ ," she corrected, playfully. "But yes. I like the name. I think I'll keep it for the time being." Turning away from him at the door, she sat down in front of her vanity, crossing one strong leg over the opposite knee as she reached forward for her box of hairpins, setting the lid carefully aside and beginning to pull her hair into a neat twist. Moving up behind her at the vanity, Steve watched in fascination as she deftly curled her hair up into a tightly-wound wrap, tucking it in at the top with a bobby pin, erasing any sign that it had ever been anything but a perfectly neat roll.

"I remember what I was going to say," he suddenly spoke up again, surprising himself and causing her to look up at his reflection in the vanity mirror, a bevy of bobby pins still sticking out of her lipsticked mouth. "Or, what I said. When I first came in here." He paused, watching as she pulled another bobby pin from her lips, tucking it deftly into the wave of her hair before patting it a few times, making sure it stayed. "What I said was… I'm still not over it," he told her, transfixed on her talented hands.

"Not over what?" Peggy asked, conversationally, sliding another bobby pin into the twist at the back of her head before securing it safely in place with her thumb.

Steve wet his lips, still captivated by her effortless, almost nonchalant refinement, faltering a silent moment over his words before clearing his throat gently, glancing down at his shoes, and then looking up at her again, more determined this time. "Not over… this," he told her, indicating vaguely to the room at large. "Us. …You. Not over you, being here. With me. Like this. Now."

"Well there's no need to be so monosyllabic about it," Peggy teased, turning around in her seat to look up at him with a silvery laugh, not even needing to look in the mirror as she pressed the last pin into her pristine coiffure. "Of course I'm here. Where else would I be?"

Steve opened his mouth, preparing to answer, before finally shaking his head and closing it again, wetting his lips, having no answer. "You look amazing," he told her, unsure what else there was to say, sliding his hands back into his pockets.

Peggy smiled at the compliment, letting out a soft breath of a warm chuckle as she turned her attention back towards her vanity, reaching forward to pick up a delicate silver locket sitting at the edge of the tabletop. "Cryogenics are a miracle, darling," she told him, good-humoredly, drawing the necklace around her slender throat and holding the pieces of the clasp above her shoulders for him to take. "Could you—?"

"Oh!" Steve nearly jumped out of his skin at the invitation, pulling his hands quickly from his pockets as he crossed the short distance to where she sat. Taking the ends of the necklace gingerly from her hands, he fumbled faintly with the clasp, his brows furrowing in concentration as he hooked one end of the clasp into the other before allowing the necklace to settle against her breastbone. Peggy smiled, looking down to admire the locket, her slender fingers brushing against the delicate heart as she pressed it against her chest, before turning her attention up towards Steve, whose hands now rested adoringly on her shoulders.

"It's beautiful," she told him, sliding her thumb along the clasped side of the heart.

"You're beautiful," Steve answered, honestly. Then, pausing, he looked down, a bit sad, before turning his attention to her reflection again, admiring the little silver heart on her chest. "I was afraid I was never going to get to give it to you," he admitted, quieter this time. "Or if I did, you would be… gone, or maybe… you wouldn't remember who I was."

"Steve," Peggy told him, turning sideways in her chair, causing him to look down at her again, surprised. Then, reaching up towards him, she took his chin between her fingers, leading his face to hers, and kissed him. Her lips lingered against his for a long moment, the warm, familiar feel of his touch bringing back memories of times long past, her hand sliding gently along the side of his neck as he kissed the fleeting edge of her mouth. When she finally pulled away again, she paused, letting out a soft, satisfied breath, before looking up at him again and instantly sucking in on her lip, trying to stifle a small, fond, unladylike laugh as she realized her lipstick had gotten all over his mouth. Steve seemed a bit confused by this reaction, but Peggy simply shook her head, reaching up with her thumb to wipe affectionately at the lingering lipstick. "You're a mess," she told him, laughing softly. She passed her thumb across the stain, causing him to make a face as she rubbed the red away. Then, finished wiping it off, she took his face between her hands instead, her thumbs resting dotingly against his cheeks as she stared him in the eyes, sincere.

"I will _always_ remember you, my darling," she assured him, before offering him a soft, adoring smile.


End file.
